Farmington Valley Golden Retrievers

The girls and I watched the sun come up the other day from the high school hilltop. We had gotten eight inches of snow earlier and then freezing rain. The dogs’ paws and my boots broke through the thin crust with every step, and so the going was very slow and tiring. We abandoned our usual route for the morning, and instead just enjoyed sitting and watching the world awaken.

It was cold, quiet, and peaceful. A great time to reflect on the year almost done, and the approaching bustle of Christmas week. Even the dogs seemed thoughtful, content to be sitting in a group rather than running in a pack.

Best wishes to all for a safe and healthy holiday week.

I am writing this post after a long day in the hospital and after what seemed like an even longer drive home. Our first real snowstorm in Connecticut this winter is still raging outside. Inside the dogs are all at my feet, tired out after a day of play outside in this wintry white wonderland.

I went to Vermont last Sunday to check out our winter home and to make sure that all the winterizing changes had been done for the season. I piled the five dogs into the truck and we stayed overnight. The mountain was deserted and cemetery quiet. There was a foot of snow already on the ground and several more inches fell as we arrived. Besides the pure white beauty of it all, with an ongoing snowfall, there is no sand on the roads, and so the dogs do not track in anything but a little clear water from their paws. The temp was down in the 20’s and with the wind blowing down from the hills, only the ice balls on their paws were what they dragged into the house. So for a change, there was very little cleaning I had to do the next morning before we made the trip back.

Golden retrievers love adventures so they had a ball running through the woods and up and down the mountain road.

Riley, our three year old, loves to bury herself in snowdrifts like the youngster she still is.

After arriving home that morning, I still had a lot of chores to do, and so I missed the nap with the girls. They had no trouble nodding off on the kitchen floor as they recuperated from their outdoor adventures earlier in the day.

What a great life they have!

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I know children everywhere are having sleepless nights awaiting the arrival of Santa in less than two weeks. The child in me is counting the days until I can do an ultrasound in two more weeks to see if Emma is carrying puppies..

We were more blessed on Thanksgiving this year than usual. All of our four children were able to make it home along with our daughter-in-law, Emma, and our two grandsons, Ethan and Alexander as well as my parents. Of course our Goldens get overly excited when we have a crowd visiting, and sometimes it can get a bit overwhelming, especially for non dog people. Ethan is smaller than the dogs and so we introduced him to them gradually and carefully.

If you look closely at the second photo above, you will notice that one of our dogs is in the crate having a time out for bad behavior (probably Solo). Also, the swiffer mop is always out to do quick clean-ups after the girls.

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We do have a dog free part of our home when we absolutely need some dog free time or space. We put invisible fencing in the floor of our dining and living rooms, so there is a haven if we have company that are not into dogs as much as we are. These areas became the safety zones for the grandchildren. They could play on the floor as much as they wanted and not be bothered by the dogs who just wanted to lick their faces.

We got everyone together for a group photo before they all left for their big city lives in Boston, New York, San Francisco, and Potomac, MD.

A very memorable holiday for all of us four footed and two footed creatures here.

I went to Cape Cod today after my call ended, and picked up our Emma. She was successfully bred three times in the last four days. When I say successful, it means that Mulder and she had success with the reproductive process. We still won’t know if there will be puppies for a number of weeks yet.

Berna Welch did a fantastic job at her end of things. She had come back a week ago from picking up two puppies of great potential from the Ohio/Pennsylvania area. Here are two photos of her with her newest female. There may be a trend here of returning to the darker more classical colors.
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Besides her ten older goldens, she also had a litter there of twelve Mulder offspring. They are four weeks old and very uniform in color and size. They looked very much like Emma’s last litter with Mulder a year ago.

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Let’s see.. ten older goldens plus two new puppies, plus a litter of twelve. Yikes, and I thought my food bill was high.

Mulder is officially retired from the show ring now. I can definitely agree with Berna’s reasoning: when your dog has won both Westminster 2004 and the 2007 Golden Retriever Show Dog of the Year award, there is nothing left to prove. So Mulder is now just happily making puppies for whichever female golden decides to pay him a visit. Per Berna’s instructions, I cannot show you a picture of him until we are sure Emma is pregnant. I will just say that the size of his head and body is amazing, with an outgoing personality and smile to match.

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Our Emma quickly adjusted to being home. She jumped up on her usual spot on our bed to be sure it was still there.

Solo, her two year old daughter, had a little fit when Emma first arrived home because she thought she had become the alpha. Now everything is calm, the birth order of things is restored, and Emma is napping at my feet. There is surely no place like home, and after that long ride today, it is very good to be back here in dogville.

Keeping our dogs well exercised maintains their good health and mostly calm dispositions. Another important part of their preventive care that might be less obvious involves having quality chewing material available. If you give them large bones periodically, their teeth do not require cleaning very often. This is also another way to keep them very occupied for hours when you need some quiet time to get other tasks accomplished.

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Barb and I tend to alternate between white antelope antlers (you can order them at www.petexpertise.com on the West Coast) and raw buffalo bones (through our friend and dog food supplier Donna Talbot of Collegiate Canines).

In a multiple dog household you do have to be careful that everyone has a bone of roughly the same size. Jealousy is not limited to us humans, and a dog fight will quickly erupt if every four footed member is not satisfied with their portion.

We had excellent news from the Cape today. Berna told us that Emma’s progesterone level finally climbed to over 4 on Friday. She was very receptive to Mulder her beau this morning, and a natural breeding occurred without difficulty. The breeding will be repeated Sunday or Monday, and then I expect to drive to the Cape after my 24 hour call on Monday and bring her home Tuesday. In four weeks we will do an ultrasound and hope that we see some new life. If this breeding is successful, Emma will be due in early February.
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Although it will have cost us almost 1300$ on blood tests alone, (never mind the stud fee, and Berna’s costs), we would definitely have missed her ovulation without them. Last year she ovulated on day 13, this year it was day 22. Barb and I learn more every day about the quirks of breeding Golden Retrievers.